Autobiography of Orson Pratt Brown

477 Pages·2007·15.34 MB·English

by  Jim Klein

O P B
RSON RATT ROWN

(1863-1946)

H F W W
IS IVE ONDERFUL IVES
AND
T 34 C
HEIR HILDREN

AN HONEST AND HEALING ACCOUNT
T L H
OF HEIR IFE ISTORIES

VOLUME 1

A
UTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
ORSON PRATT BROWN

O. James Brown Klein

Mesa, Arizona, USA
2007

Copyright 2002-2007 by O. James Brown Klein.
All rights reserved.
RESTRICTED USE NOTICE:

This Two Volume set comprises the historical work titled Orson Pratt Brown (1863-1946), His Five

Wonderful Wives and Their 34 Children – An Honest and Healing Account of Their Life Histories (the “O. P.

Brown Books”). Volume 1 is the Autobiography of Orson Pratt Brown (1863-1946). Volume 2 is the Wives

and Children of Orson Pratt Brown, which includes 39 histories – one for each of Orson’s five wives and their

34 children.

All or any of the information in the O. P. Brown Books, in any form or format – electronic,
mechanical, print, computer disk (including CD or DVD), or otherwise – is protected by United States
copyright laws and the other conditions and restrictions stated in this Restricted Use Notice (these
“Restricted Use Materials”).

No part of these O. P. Brown Books, or any information in them or part of them, in whole or in
part, may be reproduced or placed on any Internet site nor the World Wide Web for any reason, nor may

they be used for any non-commercial or commercial purposes for any reason, without the prior written

permission of the Editor.

Additionally, there is personal information about living persons in these O. P. Brown Books, and

no such information may be used in any way, nor duplicated in any way, and all such information must be

completely respected and protected, and the privacy of such persons honored in every way.

It is expected that anyone receiving or using these Restricted Use Materials will completely
respect these conditions and restrictions governing their use.

Descendants of Orson Pratt Brown and hi s wives may receive these O.P. Brown/Restricted Use
Materials as free Gifts comprising a CD/DVD set that are subject to the Limited Family Use Notice

appearing at the end of the Introduction to the O. P. Brown Books under Project Gifts and Use. See below.

Thank you. O. James Brown Klein, Editor (2007).

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007927231

ISBN: 978-0-9773648-5-5

Copyright 2002-2007 by O. James Brown Klein
All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America
Mesa, Arizona, USA
First Printing 2007

Publisher: O. James Brown Klein
Co-Publisher: Legend eXpress Publishing
Mesa, Arizona 85206
www.legendexpress.biz
ii
iii
iv
A
UTOBIO GRAPHY

OF

O P B
RSON RATT ROWN

(1863-1 946)

~~~

Volume 1

~~~

Compiled an d Edited
by
O. James Bro wn Klein
His Gran dson

Mesa, Arizona, USA

2007

Copyright 2002-2007 by O. James Brown Klein.
All rights reserved.

v
Dedication

To God’s children, all my relatives, who descend from
Orson, Mattie, Jane, Bessie, Eliza and Angela.

May this honest family history help us all to better understand
who our ancestors really were and are,
and to value their legacy of love and goodness,
which they tried so hard to pass on to us.

May God bless your lives and the lives of your posterity forever.

We are all family, and families are forever.

vi
Orson Pratt Brown

1863-1946

Orson Pratt Brown
Angela Gabaldón Mattie Romney
1900-1967 1870-1943
and

His Wives

Eliza Skousen Jane Galbraith

1882-1958 1879-1944

Bessie Macdonald
1874-1904

vii
O P B
RSON RATT ROWN

(1863-1946)

H F W W
IS IVE ONDERFUL IVES
AND
T 34 C
HEIR HILDREN

AN HONEST AND HEALING ACCOUNT
T L H
OF HEIR IFE ISTORIES

VOLUME 1

A
UTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
ORSON PRATT BROWN

O. James Brown Klein

Mesa, Arizona, USA
2007

Copyright 2002-2007 by O. James Brown Klein. All rights reserved.
24 The Madero Rebellion Against Díaz (1910-1911) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
25 Problems of Madero’s Transition Government (1911-1912) . . . . . . . . . . 205

26 General Orozco’s Revolt Against Madero (1911-1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
27 Purchasing Arms for the Mormon Colonies (1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
28 Murder of Mormon Colonists; Armed Protection (1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
29 Salazar Threatens Americans and Mormon Colonists (July 1912) . . . . 220
30 Expulsion of Mormon Colonists (July-August 1912) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

31 Orson, His Wives and Families After the Exodus (1912-1915) . . . . . . . . 240
32 Orson’s Wives Divorce Him; His New Marriage (1916-1920) . . . . . . . . 244
33 General Huerta’s Revolt Against Madero (1912-1913) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
34 Working for Poncho Villa as Cattle Inspector (1913-1914) . . . . . . . . . . . 254
35 U.S. Recognition of Carranza Government Infuriates Villa (1915-1917) . 259

36 Secret Service Agent for the U.S. Army (1916-1917) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
37 Orson’s Last Revolution Experiences (1917-1929) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
38 Orson’s Excommunication from the Church (1917-1922) . . . . . . . . . . . 273
39 Orson’s Rebaptism into the Church; A New Life; Blessings
Restored (1925-1930) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
40 Colonia Dublán: Mexican Branch President (1930-1941) . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

41 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

1 “Portrait” Photos of Orson Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
2 The Five Wives and 34 Children of Orson Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
3 Colonia Morelos Church Service of Orson Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
4 Mexican Revolution and Mormon Exodus Papers Involving Orson
Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
5 Documents of Orson Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

RESTRICTED USE NOTICE: This Autobiography of Orson Pratt Brown (1863-1946) is part of the

Two Volume set of O. P. Brown Books referenced earlier.
All of its contents are protected by United States copyright laws and the other conditions and
restrictions stated in the Restricted Use Notice appearing at the beginning of this Volume 1, page ii.

Thank you.

ix
Illustrations
•

Item Description Page

Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown and his Five Wives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown at different ages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
Pictures: Captain James Brown and Phoebe Abbott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown and Martha “Mattie” Dianna Romney . . . . . . . . 86

Picture: Phoebe Abbott Brown Fife and children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown and Jane Galbraith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown and Elizabeth “Bessie” Macdonald . . . . . . . . . . 121
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown and Eliza Skousen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Pictures: Morelos Flour Mill built by Orson Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Pictures: Morelos houses, Old flour mill, Morelos church and school building 169
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown and Maria Angela Gabaldón . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Picture: Dublán, Chihuahua, Mexico home of Orson Pratt Brown . . . . . . . . . 280

Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown with Mexican Branch member and building. . . . 283
Picture: Orson Pratt Brown with Grandsons Steven Petrie and John Klein. . . 291
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown at different ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295-296
Pictures: Orson Pratt Brown Original Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409-431

Map: Trail taken through Utah and Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Maps: Old Arizona Army Posts and Indian Tribe Territories . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Map: Arizona locations (underlined) mentioned by Orson . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Map: Route of Orson’s move from Arizona to Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Map: Location of the Mormon Colonies in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Map: Mormon Colonies in Sonora, Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Map: Mormon Colony of Morelos, Sonora, Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Map: Mormon Colonies in Mexico where Orson Pratt Brown lived . . . . . . 191
Maps: Mexican Political maps of the Díaz and Madero Regimes . . . . . . . . 195

Map: Exodus Routes of Mormon Colonies from Mexico in 1912 . . . . . . . . 223
Maps: Mexican Political Maps of the Huerta and Carranza Regimes . . . . . 253

x